Random thoughts on a variety of things but mainly on learning and teaching…

I have had a busy week where I struggled to find time to read, view, reflect and gather my thoughts. Work has been demanding of my time and my 18 yr old son is leaving for Canada to work for 8 months in an outdoor centre. A scary time for a Mum as her firstborn flies the nest; torn between wanting to spend as much time with my child, who would rather be with his girlfriend (an whyever not, I suspect I preferred my boyfriend’s company to my parents’ at the same age?) and needing to fulfil the demands of my job and edcmooc. Yesterday was spent preparing a party to celebrate on several levels; 5 years since we arrived in NZ, my husband’s birthday (which falling as it does just a few days after Christmas, has to be celebrated separately just a little later than the real day to make it special), my son’s belated 18th (his Birthday fell in the middle of his school exams), and a farewell to same son before he sets off on his adventures to the other side of the world.

Anyway, I managed to snatch time to read and view videos on the hoof, but certainly have not seen and read everything. The twitter chat this morning (evening for all of those of you int he northern hemisphere) was fun; it gave me the opportunity to share ideas, learn from others, make some more connections. Fast and furious, there is never enough time to really process but snapshots of ideas sow seeds and during the day I have had time to synthesise some of them.

I would really liked to have contributed more to the flickr project this week but time prohibited the ability to be creative. Nevertheless, I have spent today devoted to my computer and edcmooc and come up with some ideas. A work in progress towards my digital artefact; not deeply analytical, fairly soundbite-ish but getting there…

Can relate to this totally with one son leaving in days and Moocing on the hoof (and to NZ and to the time of the twitterchat – I was there (on a mountain actually) but couldn’t connect on a phone). I love your image. Is it the birthday cake?

“Authority is supposedly grounded in wisdom, but I could see from a very early age that authority was only a system of control and it didn't have any inherent wisdom. I quickly realised that you either became a power or you were crushed” Joe Strummer